Researchers: High heels may look good, but aren’t nice to feet

Wearing high-heels is a fashion statement for millions of women, but the health costs may outweigh those stylish steps, CBS News is reporting:

Researchers at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, studied the strides of nine “habitual high heel wearers” who wore 2-inch heels for at least 40 hours a week for a minimum of two years, and compared their paces on a 26-foot platform with strides of 10 young women who wore heels less than 10 hours per week, according to the CBS News report.

All the women ranged in age from their late teens to their early 30s, and were outfitted with electrodes and sensors to study their leg muscles.

What did the researchers find?

The daily high heel-wearers walked with shorter and more forceful strides, compared to the controls. The heel wearers were also found to constantly have their feet in a flexed, toes-pointed position – so much so, that it became “default” for their feet, Cronin told the Times. This position – along with the shortened stride – actually caused the women’s calf muscles to shorten, the study found, leading them to put more strain on their muscles

(Researcher Dr. Neil J.) Cronin said that when these women will slip on more comfortable shoes like sneakers or flip-flops, they face an even greater injury risk since they’re introducing their permanently deformed feet into a different environment. And since the women in the study were young – 25, on average – the toll the heels take on feet may happen fairly quickly, and the impact could be even worse for older women.